Councillor Collins welcomed the
group, he explained that they were firstly required to elect a
Chair for the meeting. Councillor Collins nominated Councillor
McCloskey as Chair to which Councillor Harman seconded.

Resolved that Councillor
McCloskey Chair the meeting.

The Chair proceeded to explain
that they had an issue with the proceedings of the meeting as the
applicant was unable to attend the session due to
illness.

The Licensing Team Leader
explained the procedure given the absence of the applicant. He
explained it was the responsibility of the Committee to choose to
either proceed and determine the application as normal or defer the
meeting to a later date. He informed Members that under the Hearing
Regulations they were required to specify an exact date for the
rescheduled meeting if they were minded to defer.

The Members continued to have a
short discussion on whether to defer the application or not. The
Members expressed their frustration at the situation and
sympathised with the residents of Pittville who were in attendance
at the session. One Member explained their preference for deferral
due to the fact they had not yet had the opportunity to conduct a
proper site visit and because they had a number of questions which
they wished to ask the applicant. One Member proclaimed that they
were reluctant to defer and felt that a replacement should have
been sent by the applicant.

The Chair reminded the room
that licensing was just one step in the overarching process of
determining whether the application should be granted or not. He
explained that there were a number of other steps which would need
to be taken by the applicant before the event would be
allowed.

The Members then proceeded to
vote on whether the application be deferred or not.

Two Members voted in favour of
deferral and one Member voted against.

Resolved that the application be deferred to a later
date.

The Licensing Team Leader noted
that whilst the Hearing Regulations specify that a specific date
needs to be agreed for the rescheduled meeting it would be
impractical to do so in today’s session as room availability
and Members diaries would need to be taken in to account. It was
therefore agreed that the meeting would be rescheduled for within
the next 2 weeks subject to availability.

One resident queried whether
they would be notified of the rescheduled meeting. The Licensing
Team Leader explained that the exact same procedure would take
place and that any objectors would be notified in writing by the
licensing team as would any news reporters.